Mehgar
The Mehgar (Old Narsic, meaning ‘sorcerer’) were an order of sorcerers and other magical practitioners founded in Narsa around 270 by the current ruler King Eummid II of the Siljiq dynasty. Although the Mehgar practiced most known forms of magic, they were most famous for their necromantic and blood magic experimentations which eventually led to their persecution across much of the known world following the explosions of faiths, notably Astrism, Shabburism and Nialism. The Mehgar order was finally eliminated in 2432 in the Siege of Blackbridge. The Mehgar followed a strict code of knowledge, known as the Mehghar Wisdoms, of which no complete copy exists except for the possible Blackbridge Tome. Etymology Mehgar derives from the Old Narsic word ‘meh’, meaning magic and the suffix ‘-gar’. History Establishment and the Areshite Conquests King Eummid II of the Siljiq Dynasty of Narsa created the Mehgar Order as a group of personal sorcerers sometime during his reignDeclarations of Eummid II. Scholarly estimates put this date at around 270. The Mehgar steadily grew in power and influence until, in 367, they overthrew the Siljiq Dynasty and created the Mehgar Magocracy of NarsaDeclarations of the Mehgar Council. The rise of Shabburism, which forbade the practices of necromancy and blood magicThe Kitam (both of which were practiced by the Mehgar), in Western Kush around 400 led to a steady disdain of Narsa in the eyes of the surrounding Kushite city statesThe Shaam Fragments. This eventually led to a Holy War by the Shabburian state of Aresh in 582-589, which saw the conquest of Narsa by Aresh and the persecution of the Mehgar Jahan Ibn-Shahin: Kushite Histories. While some Mehgar remained in Kush, largely in the Ankars, most surviving members fled north to the Baccian states where they continued their practices and gained some influence (particularly in the city state of BaklaThe Letters of Diosthenes of Bakla), though never rising to the prominence they held during the Magocracy. Baccian Conquests and Belorian Expansion During the Baccian Conquests of 867 to 894, much of Kush, including Narsa (in 887), was conquered by Lykorgos of Malena. This conquest allowed certain members of the Mehgar safe passage through Kush and allowed them to establish a presence for themselves once more in NarsaNarsa Graffiti. Following the collapse of the Baccian Confederacy in 894, the Mehgar kept a presence in Narsa under the new Kingdom of Barsallis, although tensions between the Mehgar and the Shabburians was ever present. The eventual conquest of Kush by Urbinium in the 13th Century - the fall of Barsallis in 1265 and the conquest of Narsa itself in 1269 - and the persecution of Shabburism in the late 13th Century marked the height of power of the Mehgar in the 2nd Millenium. The rise of Urbin influence in Beloria across the 11th to 15th century allowed the Mehgar order to expand as far north as Abelor and across much of the Urbin Empire. The Rise of Astrism and the Shamlek Conquests From the mid 14th Century and the execution of the prophet Aster in UrbiniumThe Beloriad, the Astric faith grew rapidly across the empire. Astrism became a common faith of the subjugated nations in the Urbinian Empire and, by the 16th Century, the empire faced multiple revolts across Beloria. In 1823, the Shamlek Conquests began and, one by one, the Kush provinces of Urbinium fell to the invaders (by 1827, Narsa had fallen and by 1839, all of Western Kush was under the Shamleks), who brought with them the Nialist faith, which also denounced the practices of the Mehgar, wiping them out in Kush. The massive blow dealt by the Shamleks to the already crippled empire lead to the fall of the empire and the Sack of Urbinium in 1847. The rise of Astric Belorian kingdoms forced any remaining Mehgar to go into hiding and practice their sorcery in secret. Blackbridge and the fall of the Mehgar By the 25th Century, the Meghar line had almost entirely died out, save for a single group of practitioners based in Blackbridge in Abelor. One of their members, Alfonsus Mansel, became steward of the local castle in 2425 and soon after a number of children started going missing and, day by day, graves were being found empty. After numerous royal investigators vanished mysteriously, a witch hunt was declared for the town and in 2432 the resident Mehgar, fearing that their discovery was imminent, created an army of undead and fortified the town. Within months, the Abelorian army laid siege to the town. The Mehgar, knowing that they were to be killed, used their last few days locked in the town hall inscribing the Meghar Wisdoms into a tome (the Blackbridge Tome) using blood magic, sacrificing their lives in the process. This is known as a note, explaining their actions, was found alongside the drained corpses of the Meghar Commentaries on the Blackbridge Tome. The tome itself, however, was nowhere to be seen. References Category:Mehgar Category:Magical Orders Category:Kush Category:Narsa Category:Factions